Planning the Brown Bear Ursus arctos reintroduction in the Adamello Brenta Natural Park. A tool to establish a metapopulation in the Central-Eastern Alps

• Main Authors: Andrea Mustoni, Eugenio Carlini, Barbara Chiarenzi, Simonetta Chiozzini, Edoardo Lattuada, Eugenio Dupré, Piero Genovesi, Luca Pedrotti, Adriano Martinoli, Damiano Preatoni, Luc Wauters, Guido Tosi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Associazione Teriologica Italiana 2003
• Subjects: reintroduction; metapopulation; reintroduzione; metapopolazione; Science; Q; Zoology; QL1-991; Bare Rock; Ursus arctos
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4404/hystrix-14.1-2-4313; https://doaj.org/article/6de24cec6d2f4869a94669e509a0c40f

Abstract In the 17 th century, brown bears ( Ursus arctos ) were still abundant and widely distributed over the entire alpine area of northern Italy and even in large, dense forests of the prealps and the Po plain. The start of the decline coincided with increasing deforestation for farming at the end of the 18 th century and, in the 19 th century, increased access to previously remote wilderness areas of the prealpine and alpine mountains, where direct persecution by farmers and hunters caused the extinction of local bear populations. The last remnant population that occupied the Adamello-Brenta Alps was considered biologically extinct since 1989 (only three, non-reproducing bears). Here we present an analysis of the reintroduction process as the most suitable tool for brown bear recovery in the Italian Alps, taking into account both the benefits of reinstating a viable population and the risks that the coexistence between man and bear could cause. The reintroduction process is discussed aiming at an evaluation of its contribution to the global future efforts for brown bear conservation in the alpine region. A GIS-based habitat suitability analysis was implemented to test for good-quality bear habitat in a vast mountainous area around the Adamello-Brenta Natural Park (6500 km²), the release site of bears. The model was based on presence/absence data, gathered over the last 20 years, and habitat parameters in 25 ha cells in the core-area of the remnant bear population (645 km² study area). Other parameters of human disturbance and livestock densities, were considered at the scale of the municipality. Bears positively selected deciduous forest but seemed to avoid areas with intensive pasture activity, mainly of horses and sheep, despite the latter being a potential prey. Habitats containing large amounts of bare rock, farmland and urbanised areas were avoided. There were no significant differences between municipalities with and without bears in human population density and intensity of tourism. The importance of ...